CBN Lifts Ban on Opay, Moniepoint, and Others

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has lifted the ban on onboarding new customers for five prominent fintech startups: Paga, OPay, Kuda, Palmpay, and Moniepoint.

Opay announced the news via its official X handle on Monday, stating that the ban has been lifted with immediate effect.

“We are thrilled to announce that the Central Bank of Nigeria has given OPay
the thumbs up to resume onboarding new users,” Opay stated.

This is coming after the expiration of a May 31 deadline given to the fintechs to meet Know Your Customer, KYC, and other regulatory requirements.

The governor of CBN, Olayemi Cardoso, had, at the end of the 295th Monetary Policy Committee, MPC, meeting, hinted that the ban on four fintech banks will be lifted soon.

Cardoso added that the central bank did not revoke any fintech banks’ licenses.

The development comes after CBN on April 30 restricted the four banks from onboarding new customers over allegations of being used for illicit foreign exchange transactions.